“Maybe.”
“I don’t suppose you’d let me take them all inside and pamper them until they’re on their feet?” She brushed her hair off her face and peered up at him.
“They’re not housebroken, so, no. They’ll be fine where they are. Being in the house when they’re not used to it would make them too nervous. Let them rest here, where they’re comfortable.”
Leaning back she raised a hand and Adam helped her stand. “Now are you ready to go in?”
“Um—” her glance traveled to the barn “—I know Deputy Elmer didn’t find much evidence but maybe we should look for ourselves.”
“They bagged the duct tape that was wrapped around Kurt. What else could there be?” Adam knew the moment he asked the question that Sara was going to come up with a contradiction. He could see it in her expression, in her sparkling eyes.
She began to grin. “If I knew what to look for I’d have told Elmer. That’s why clues are part of a mystery.”
“You’re the mystery,” Adam said. He couldn’t help returning her smile. Resiliency was one of Sara’s best traits. Well, that and her wit, her intellect and her caring heart. Nursing was the perfect career for her.
“Let’s go take a look,” she urged. “You can check your horses again while I poke around everywhere else.”
“Play with the kittens, you mean?”
One shoulder rose in a casual shrug and she chuckled. “Well, that, too.”
* * *
As long as Sara kept her mind on animals and on her search for obscure clues she stayed pretty calm, at least outwardly. The times she slipped and recalled finding Kurt bound and gagged, she trembled all the way from the top of her head to the muddy soles of her shoes.
It was harder to be at her best when she was even a short distance away from Adam. Consequently, she dogged his footsteps from stall to stall until he came to the one where they’d found his brother. That was where she stopped, turning her back while he explored alone.
Interior lights were on but didn’t fully illuminate the darkest corners. Sara was glad to see a few beams from the rising sun peek through the clouds. Violent spring storms were normal in the Ozarks. Whether this one was done or would redevelop and slam into them again was fifty-fifty. Weather could go from sunny to threatening in less than half an hour, and often did.
A soft stirring amid the stacked hay bales drew her away from Adam. She was cooing like a mother to her baby as she approached. “Are you there, kitties? Yes, you are. What good babies. So pretty, so soft.”
Rather than reach into the narrow space right away she paused so the kittens could size her up. “It’s me, guys. See? Remember?”
Three sets of sky blue eyes blinked up at her. Striped gray and black, the kittens’ camouflage was perfect for their shady den. If she had not known where to look she might have missed them. Fortunately, their mother wasn’t home at the time or Sara would have had to face hissing and claws.
She slowly took a seat on one of the bales and dangled her fingertips beside it. Something tickled. A soft paw batted at her. Almost, she thought. I’ve almost won your confidence.
Two of the bright-eyed babies stayed interested in her. The third acted preoccupied with a black object that looked like a ribbon. Moving in slow motion to keep from frightening her new animal friends, Sara slipped her hand into the narrow space between the bales.
That kitten growled, making her smile. “Good for you, little guy. Stick up for yourself,” she whispered. After a short pause she probed farther until she touched his odd plaything. Happily, it was inert rather than being a dead critter his mama had brought her babies for food.
She pinched it between two fingers and drew it out. The hissing kitten made one last effort to grab his toy before it was out of reach.
“Adam?” Sara’s voice wasn’t loud but it apparently carried enough weight because he joined her immediately.
“What?”
“I’m not sure.” Fingering the fabric object she examined it. “What is this thing?”
“I don’t know. A ribbon?”
“Not exactly. It looks like one of those bracelets teenagers weave and exchange as tokens of friendship. Do you suppose one of the Texas gang dropped it here?”
“If they did, you shouldn’t be handling it,” he warned.
“The kitties have been playing with it. I hardly think there’d be DNA or anything else left on it.”
“Maybe it’s been in here a long time. Or maybe it was stuck to the hay when this load was delivered. It could have come from anywhere.”
Sobering, Sara nodded. “You’re right.”
“Are you ready to go back into the house?”
“I suppose so.”
She wadded up the thin bracelet and stuffed it into her pocket. “I still think we may be missing something.”
“I’ll tell you what I think you’re missing—sleep. We’ve all been so keyed up it’s a wonder anybody can string together a whole sentence. It’s time you got some rest.”
Sara nodded, hurrying to match his longer strides toward the ranch house. “Only if it finally comes with a shower. I still smell smoky from the car fire and I don’t like it.”
There wasn’t enough volume to Adam’s chuckle to carry it above the lingering weather noise and huffing of stabled horses but she saw he was amused. “What’s so funny?”
“You are,” he said. “I’m so used to smoke I hadn’t even noticed. It’s a firefighter thing.”
“Well, it isn’t my thing,” she countered, trying to sound miffed and failing.
“I get it,” he teased. “You like medicinal odors. Personally, I prefer smoke or even Kurt’s favorite, horses. Just smelling a hospital gives me the willies.” He grew somber. “I guess it reminds me of the buddies I visited after they were wounded. And that reminds me of the ones who never came home.”
Sara wiped her feet on the mat and preceded him through the kitchen door, then stopped and turned, slipping both arms around his waist. “That was then. This is now. You need to try to put all that aside and concentrate on the future.”
Adam’s reaction was far from what she had anticipated. Instead of opening his arms and drawing her into his embrace he grasped her shoulders and set her away. “The same goes for you, Sara. We both need to get past what happened to Vicki and everything else that’s piled up since, otherwise we’ll never be sure of anything.” He paused and studied her expression. “I refuse to take advantage of you when you’re emotionally overwrought.” That said, he walked off.
Sara was stunned. Her dear friend Adam had become much more to her than a simple childhood crush. He had hugged her patiently as she wept. Had even kissed her. So why was she continuing to get mixed signals from him? After all, he had acted jealous of his own brother. He’d also recently pulled her out of more than one trap. Was he getting sick of rescuing her? Was that it?
No matter how many ideas she processed regarding Adam’s changeable temperament, she was sure of one thing. He had to be ruing the day he’d become so closely involved in her troubles. It had already cost him his truck window and brought injuries to his younger brother, not to mention the danger they shared every time he was around her. So who had been taking advantage of whom?
And yet, circumstances had her trapped. There was nowhere else to go and nobody she could turn to the way she did Adam Kane. He was one of a kind. A special friend. A person who had proved himself over and over, at home and as a marine. No wonder she’d developed loving feelings toward him. He was easy to like, easy to trust—and easy to love.
Lost in thought, she began to finger the black woven bracelet in her pocket. I’ve see this somewhere before, she told herself, pulling it out and studying it. But where? When?
She supposed it was possible that her imagination was providing erroneous information simply because she wanted to pu
t an end to her trials. To dot all the i’s and cross all the t’s. If she could get a look at the young woman the sheriff had in custody maybe that would bring it all together and make sense. Rigo, she’d known. Hector was also familiar. As for the other two men and the teenage girl, who knew?
Picturing the bracelet on a wrist, she laid it over hers and stared. Unless it had belonged to a very skinny man it had to be a woman’s because it was so short.
Sara closed her eyes. The vision wavered like a mirage on a hot day, never becoming clear.
“I have seen it,” she insisted to herself. “I know I have. All I need to do is remember.”
A shiver zinged up her spine and raised gooseflesh on her arms. It wasn’t enough to recall seeing the fabric bracelet. She had to know where, when and, most of all, on whose wrist.
And the sooner she unearthed that memory, the sooner she and everyone dear to her could get back to normal.
Even if being normal meant Adam and I wouldn’t be forced close together anymore? Sara asked her heart.
The unwelcome answer was yes.
TWENTY
After a phone conversation with Sheriff Caruthers the following day, Adam knew what he had to do. Repeated official pleas for the journal Vicki had kept had done no good. Until law enforcement could get a warrant for it and force Helen to turn it over, the case against the gang from Texas was in limbo. Without proof it was going to be tough to charge most of them with more than malicious mischief.
Whoever had shot Rigo and started the fire was the only person facing serious charges. Unfortunately, there was no solid evidence pointing to a specific killer and Caruthers argued that all four were unlikely to have been involved because at least one of them had shot at Sara. Adam didn’t agree with that theory because of its timing but he wasn’t in charge; the sheriff was.
Pacing the yard outside the barn where Sara was playing with the kittens, Adam took matters into his own hands. He phoned Will Babcock at work.
“Paradise Savings and Loan. How may I direct your call?”
“Will Babcock,” Adam said. “It’s important.”
In seconds, Will was on the line. “Hello?”
“Will, it’s Adam Kane. I need to talk to you.”
The pause was longer than Adam liked but he finally did get a reply. “You need a loan?”
“What I need is unimportant. It’s what the police need that matters.” Adam cleared his throat. “Is there any way you can convince your mother to turn over your sister’s journal?”
“Why? It’s just personal ramblings.”
“Is it? Have you looked for yourself?”
“I didn’t have to,” Will said flatly. “My mother told me what’s in it.”
“Did she also tell you that the chief of police and sheriff have both asked repeatedly to borrow it?”
“What? No. When?”
“The last time was right after he arrested four people from Texas that he believes could be responsible for Vicki’s death.”
“My sister drowned.”
“I don’t think so,” Adam said, enunciating each word clearly and stretching the spaces between for greater effect.
“Humph. I know what you’re trying to do, Kane.” Will was adamant. “You’re trying to convince everybody that your girlfriend is innocent. Well, I know better. Sara should have stuck with Vicki and she didn’t. There’s nothing more to say.”
“Wait! Don’t hang up. Hear me out. If you don’t, you’ll never know for sure.” Listening, Adam didn’t hear the desk phone slam down so he continued. “Vicki uncovered graft in the records she was asked to keep in Texas. The original receipts were lost in the flood but we believe she wrote everything down in her journal.”
“What makes you think that?”
“Habits,” Adam replied. “She was always making notes. If she hadn’t been so methodical she might not have noticed the thefts. According to Sara, large quantities of goods meant for flood victims had disappeared. Vicki was positive she’d figured out who was responsible but she died before she could prove it.”
“So what good is her journal?”
“It can point to motive and give the police more reason to hold the prisoners until they sort this all out.”
“You’re going out on a limb,” Will told Adam. “Even if Vicki did have suspicions, suppose there are no details written down? That would make it look like Sara is inventing excuses for herself.”
“I’ll take that chance,” Adam said. “How about it? Can you get the journal to the sheriff or police chief?”
Again there was an uncomfortable silence. “Maybe,” Will said with a sigh. “I won’t promise a thing until I’ve talked to my mother. It’s up to her. She’s already suffered enough and I’m not going to upset her if I can help it.”
“Understood.” He cleared his throat. “The sheriff is trying to get a warrant for it but the sooner, the better. Don’t you think it would be easier on Helen if she turned it over on her own? It is inevitable.”
“I see. All right. I’ll sit down with her this evening and see what I can do.”
“Thanks, man.” Adam’s hopes rose. He didn’t want any of the people who had accosted Sara to be released, there or back in Texas. The only way to be certain she remained safe was to break up the theft operation for good.
Plus, it is the right thing to do, Adam added to himself. Those supplies and the money behind them had been donated for disaster relief. Anybody who knowingly took advantage of that system deserved to land in jail. And stay there.
* * *
Sara was playing with the kittens when Adam entered the barn. His smile didn’t reach his eyes. That was disappointing. “I wondered when you were going to come looking for me,” she said.
“I knew exactly where you were.”
That brought a soft chuckle. “I don’t doubt that for a second. Did I hear you talking outside?”
He nodded. “Yeah. I called Will Babcock.”
“What for?”
“I thought maybe he could talk Helen into turning over Vicki’s journal instead of waiting for a warrant.”
“Um, did it work?”
“Time will tell.”
Thoughtful, Sara nodded and focused back on the kittens in her lap. “I was wondering... When I can finally go home, would you let me take one of these babies with me as a pet? I’d really like having the company.”
He had busied himself arranging unused halters on pegs nearby and barely glanced over his shoulder. “Sure. No problem.”
Joy filled her thank-you and brought unshed tears to her eyes. It hurt to think of leaving, of trying to return to the peaceful life she’d enjoyed before her cousin’s untimely death.
That trip had changed everything. Things would never return to the old normal. Never. Not only had she lost Vicki, she had essentially lost her best male friend, the guy she had admired for most of her life. In leaving behind their casual, amiable relationship, they had effectively broken that bond without establishing another connection in its place. Was it too late? Perhaps not.
Sara cuddled the armful of wriggly kittens for solace. “Adam?”
He answered without turning. “Yes?”
“What do you want to do when all this is over?”
He shrugged. “Meaning?”
“Meaning, do you think we can ever go back to the way things used to be?”
“Not in a million years,” he said, sounding gruff.
When he refused to elaborate or even meet her gaze she was at a loss. Her question had been his cue to allude to a happier future, perhaps one in which they became a couple. But he hadn’t. Should she? Sara held back for fear his plans did not include her. What she wanted to ask was, “If we can’t go back, can we go forward?” but the words refused to come out.
Truth to tell, now that the Texans were in
custody, she should return to Paradise. She would as soon as she had a home to go to. Penitent, Sara did say, “I’m sorry I’ve been underfoot for so long. Cynthia is working on getting the house repaired. There’s a chance I can move in there until the cleanup crews get through repainting my old apartment on the square.”
Again, Adam sounded irritated. “Have I asked you to leave?”
“No, but...”
He whirled, glaring as if angry. “Look, Sara, the sheriff may be sure the danger has passed but I’m not convinced. You can stay here with us for as long as it takes to wind up the case, okay?”
Taken aback she scowled at him. “Sheriff Caruthers seems convinced it’s all over. He’s arrested everybody who came up here with Hector. Do you think they’ll send more people?”
“Maybe they already have.” Adam’s purposeful strides toward her caused her to set aside the kittens and rise. When he began listing the various attacks that had occurred, she started to see his point.
“Just because a criminal denies committing a crime, that doesn’t mean they didn’t do it,” Sara argued.
“Why admit to some things and not all?”
“I don’t know. Maybe Hector didn’t keep close tabs on the others and they acted on their own. Has the sheriff thought of that?”
“He didn’t say.”
“Well, when we give him the bracelet I found, maybe that will connect it to the girl they arrested. Even if there isn’t any human DNA after the cats chewed it, she might admit it’s hers. That would put her here in the barn and confirm her admission of guilt about tying up Kurt.”
“I would like to know why they went that far, then bailed,” Adam said. “I’ll call and tell him what we found. Unless he’s in a hurry for it, we can take it to town first thing in the morning. I need to stop in to see Will at the bank, too. A personal visit may encourage him to face Helen.”
“Will’s afraid to face her? That doesn’t sound like him,” Sara said, frowning. “Of course, considering the way she went ballistic when we ran into her in the store, he may have a good excuse.”
Fatal Threat Page 17
